555 Master
Many months ago, back on the ship to the Cardinal City.
"You see… I still fall asleep when I cultivate and… I don't know when I stop doing it," Alex said to Ma Rong.
"What? You haven't fixed that yet?" Ma Rong asked.
"I don't know how to master. I keep falling asleep. At first, I thought that was normal, but it seems that it is not. I don't know what to do," Alex said.
"You should have let me know that way earlier," Ma Rong said. "Alright, Cultivate right now and I'll try to see what the problem is."
Alex had closed his eyes to cultivate and started breathing slowly. The Qi in his body started moving to the rhythm of his breathes and soon, and slowly Alex started falling asleep.
As one Alex fell asleep, the other one finally came to the control of the body once again.
'He started cultivating?' Alex thought as he assumed control of his body once again. He circulated the Qi around his body to cultivate.
That was what he did. The other guy would always think cultivation was something that happened on its own. But he was wrong. It was him doing all the work while the other guy fell asleep.
He had always hated the other him. The him that got to do what he wanted, the him that was always free. The him that got to go back to the other side.
However, despite hating him, he never did a single thing that would harm him. For he knew that the other him was not responsible for whatever he was going through.
They both shared the same memory before they came to the game, the same experience. It was only after jumping into the game that they separated.
And while the other him got to experience both worlds, he was stuck on this side, fated to forever hide beneath him.
Alex sighed on the inside. He continued cultivating as that was the only time he wasn't suppressed and could actually think for himself.
If he stopped cultivating, he would immediately go back to being suppressed, so he had no choice.
"Does he have school tomorrow? What time does he need to wake up at?" Alex wondered and looked through the memory he had that he never experienced.
This was what he always did. He looked through the other Alex's memory and cultivated until it was time for him to leave, be it if it was for his classes, or just to have breakfast.
There were times when he just wanted to keep on cultivating forever, so that the other Alex could never assume control, but he never did any of that.
After all, the other him was the only way he could know how his parents were doing on the other side.
'Hmm? Oh, he got on a ship to the capital for competition?' Alex thought while he looked at the memories. He saw the top 3 disciples of the Hong Wu sect.
He saw the 2nd and 3rd elder and saw an old man who the other guy's master said was a fraud.
Following that, he finally recalled the memories of when he was to wake up. He was to do so when Ma Rong told him to.
'Does that mean…' Alex was about to send out his spiritual sense when he noticed Ma Rong's spiritual sense on his own body.
Ma Rong could see that Alex had indeed fallen asleep, but she couldn't figure out what was wrong with him.
So, she had decided to check if he wasn't cultivating properly by some chance. She used her spiritual sense on him, but she couldn't find any problems at all.
She was very confused as to what she should do now.
"Yu Ming! Yu Ming!" she started calling him out. However, she got no answer.
"Yu Ming!" she called out again, but she still got no answer.
"Yu Ming!" the last time, she called him directly with a spiritual sense. "Wake up."
Alex could hear it all, but he didn't know what to do. She kept on calling for the other guy. So… should he just stop cultivating?
He couldn't see what was happening outside, so he sent out his own spiritual sense.
"Ah, so you are awake. Why didn't you say so?" Ma Rong asked the moment she sensed the spiritual sense.
Alex panicked a little and nearly stopped cultivating. However, when he stopped to think about it, he realized that maybe… just maybe, she could help him.
So, once again, he sent out his spiritual sense towards her, and this time he actually spoke to her.
"H-Hello!" he said.
"Ah, you are awake. How did it go? Did you learn how to not fall asleep?" Ma Rong asked.
Alex didn't know how to ask for help. What was he to say? How should he form the questions?
"Yu Ming?" Ma Rong asked when he didn't reply.
"Um… I'm not Yu Ming," Alex replied. "Your disciple is still asleep."
Ma Rong's face narrowed in confusion. "What are you saying, Yu Ming?" she asked.
"My name is not Yu Ming. My name is Alex," Alex replied a little scaredly.
Ma Rong's eyes went wide. "Did you take over my disciple's body?" she immediately got angry.
"No! No! No!" Alex was still replying with his spiritual sense. "He took over mine."
Ma Rong's serious face showed confusion again. "What do you mean… he took over?" she asked.
"I mean… I'm not sure, but I think he took over mine. I have been stuck in this body for nearly a month and a half now. The only time I gain control is when he cultivates," Alex said.
Ma Rong got even more confused. Alex thought for a moment and decided to tell her everything from the very start.
He told her about his life, where he came from, the other world, how this was a game to them, however since the start he had been suppressed in this body.
Ma Rong's shock was great and understandable.
"Are you saying that… you are not from this world, but another?" Ma Rong asked.
"Yes," Alex said. "I don't know how any of this works, but… yes, I, we are from another world."
"Hmm…" Ma Rong thought. The shock had been truly great for her and needed some time to process.
"So… you are a clone of his?" Ma Rong asked.
"Um, I think so," Alex said. "I think our souls were sent here to find a random dead body and take over it."
"I may have just been a contingency plan in case something happened to his soul," Alex said.
"No, that's not possible," Ma Rong said.
"Huh?" Alex asked.
"There are two methods of making clones," Ma Rong said. "First is using a dead body and putting in a bit of your soul to control it. Making clones that way takes weeks since the soul will need time to integrate with the dead body."
"You said you appeared in a forest right? If it were just you, it would be possible, but you said there are millions of people just like you here, right?" Ma Rong asked.
Alex nodded. "Yes, you won't find so many dead bodies just lying around, especially ones that have no damage to them."
"Then?" Alex asked.
"Then, the body you have now was created somehow, and you were the soul grown along with it," Ma Rong said as his eyes went wide in just the thought of what she was saying.
"To think someone is out there that can clone bodies in an instant, that too of such high caliber. I couldn't even begin to imagine the resources that would be needed for your body alone, let alone the other millions of people."
Ma Rong's breath got heavy. She understood the gravity of the situation. The only ones who could possibly do these sorts of things were definitely immortals.
"Does… does that mean… this body is mine?" Alex asked.
"Yes, that… that should be your body which is being controlled by your original soul," Ma Rong said.
Alex felt stunned. He didn't know what to say. Slowly, as he processed the information, a question appeared in his mind.
"Does… does that mean that I will never get to go back home? That… I do not belong there anymore?" he asked. He felt like crying, but he couldn't. Any unnecessary movement could stop him from cultivating, sending him back to the dark corner in his mind.
Ma Rong stayed quiet for a while and watched the sun come up the horizon. She sighed, and finally said, "yes. Yes, I believe you are stuck here forever."
A few elders appeared from the side. "Sect leader, we've arrived," they said.
Ma Rong looked out of the boat and saw the capital. "Let the 2nd elder take control for now. Tell him to take you all to the hotel. I will leave later."
"Yes," the elder said and left.
Alex's emotions could be vaguely seen on his face. Pain, despair, agony, sadness. He was feeling a multitude of emotions at once.
"That means I will never get to see my mother again? Never get to meet my father? I had only just left the countryside for the first time. Will I never get to see the city like I wanted to?" he asked himself.
Ma Rong quietly listened to his complaints while everyone else left the boat.
She looked around and saw that no one was onboard anymore. "We should leave soon too," Ma Rong said. "Can you…" She felt guilty asking him to surrender control of his own body to the other soul.
"Do I have to? Do I have to give control of my body, even after knowing it's my own body? Why should I? Why doesn't he leave instead?" Alex's voice started getting louder in her mind. She could hear the anguish in hiss voice as well.
"Why does he get to have everything while I stay trapped in my own body? Why do I have to suffer through all of this?" Alex cried out.
"Am I not worthy of a life just because I'm a clone? Do I not deserve freedom?" he asked.
Ma Rong started tearing up when she heard him. "You do, you deserve it," she said.
"Then why? Why don't i—"
"I will help you. I will help you find a way to get back your freedom," Ma Rong said.
Alex stopped shouting and asked, "You will?"
"Yes," Ma Rong said with tears in her eyes.
"I… I can have my freedom back?" he asked. "Please don't give me false hope."
"No, it's not false. I promise, I will do everything I can to find a way to help you," Ma Rong said.
"Even if that means getting rid of his soul?" Alex asked.
"No, I will find a way so that neither of you gets hurt, and both of you get to live your life just as you want," Ma Rong said. "Trust your master."
"Mas..ter," Alex said slowly. "I can call you, master?"
"Of course," Ma Rong said as she wiped her tears. "I am your master, and you are my disciple."
Alex started crying on the inside. "Thank you, master. Thank you" he cried. At the same time, Ma Rong started crying again.
"Now, can you please let him come out? We need to leave," Ma Rong said.
"Yes," Alex said. "Thank you."
Slowly, his cultivation cycle slowed down, and he felt the suppression come back to push him back to the depth once again.
The other Alex came out and saw Ma Rong, with tears in her eyes, and asked, "What's wrong, Master? Why are you crying?"
* * * *
Alex looked at his Master's sword as tears flowed down his face again. He had just recalled his memories of the first time he talked to his master.
He then remembered the last memory he had of his master, her dying in his arm, regretting that she never got to keep her promise.
He brought the sword to his chest and hugged it as he cried, "You didn't fail master. You did it. You kept your promise."
"Thank's to you, I'm finally free."
